Rancho Bernardo's Peggy Brose last weekend became the second girls basketball coach in section history to win 500 games.

After nearly 30 years, Peggy Brose is comfortable confronting it, gradually if not altogether grudgingly.

She thinks of the summers and where they've gone, thinks of Christmases past and what they might have been.

And she thinks it may be time.

"I haven't made a final decision, but I have given it much more serious consideration than I have any other year," said Brose, the girls basketball coach at Rancho Bernardo High. "I've always said that I'll quit coaching when that inner voice tells me it's time. And that inner voice is going to be a reflection of, 'Do I think I'm cheating the kids? Am I not putting the same time and energy into the program that I have in the past?' And lately, the answer to both of those questions has been yes."

Here's the answer to another: 500 career wins.

With Friday's victory over Vista, Brose became just the second girls basketball coach in San Diego Section history to reach the 500-win mark, the other being Santana's Wade Vickery.

To provide some perspective, Poway girls coach Jay Trousdale, who ranks third with 357 career victories, is in his 18th season.

The big 5-0-0

Where Peggy Brose ranks on the list of career wins for San Diego Section girls basketball coaches:

Having arrived from Orange County in 1976, she was hired as a field hockey coach at Mt. Carmel. But when budget limitations prevented the sport from officially garnering varsity status, Brose was asked if she would consider lending a hand with the JV girls basketball team.

"I really didn't know the game that well," she said. "But as time went on, I found (coaching basketball) was something I really enjoyed doing and wanted to get better at. I think my competitiveness stems from the fact that I really didn't know that much and I really didn't know what I was doing, but I hated the thought of getting into situations where I would lose and my kids would be embarrassed. I had to figure it out."

It didn't take long. In 1979, she was named head coach of the Sundevils' varsity team. Before leaving for Rancho Bernardo in 1990, she had won two league titles, two San Diego Section championships and 192 games.

When the Broncos open Palomar League play tonight at La Costa Canyon, Brose will be coaching in her 702nd career varsity game.

"When I first went to interview at Mt. Carmel, there were still buffalo on the hillside in Carmel Mountain Ranch," she said. "There was nothing around. I was driving down Rancho Peñasquitos Boulevard convinced I had made a wrong turn.

"If anyone had told me then that I'd win (500 games) or that things would turn out this way, I would have told them they were crazy. I couldn't have imagined this happening in my wildest dreams."

SEAN M. HAFFEY / Union-Tribune

In one measure of her influence, Brose says between 10-15 of her former players have become coaches.

Robin Blalock doesn't attempt to imagine it. The varsity coach at Mt. Carmel the past five seasons, Blalock played for Brose at Mt. Carmel and Rancho Bernardo before graduating from the latter in 1993.

Blalock, daughter of Rancho Bernardo's Sam Blalock, the winningest baseball coach in section history, thinks the chances of anyone winning 500 games again is almost as ridiculous as it is remote.

"You have a new breed of coaches now," said Robin Blalock, whose team won consecutive Division I section titles in 2000 and '01. "There aren't many Peggy Broses anymore. You don't see the kind of people anymore who are willing to commit the time needed to achieve longevity in building a successful program.

"In the four years that I played for (Brose), not only did I learn basketball, I also learned what it was like to work hard and set goals. I learned to stay focused and develop that drive. And those aren't things that just resonate in basketball; they resonate in every facet of your life.

"But when I look at her and my father, I still can't help but think, 'How do you guys do this year in and year out and still be successful nearly every year?' "

Vickery, whose career win total stands at 579, thinks he knows.

"More than anything, you have to want to make a commitment to the program," said Vickery, whose Santana teams have won seven section titles. "This job isn't three months a year anymore. Those days have been over for a long time. You give up part of your summer, you give up Christmas vacation, you give up time in the fall.

"Peggy has made that commitment and in the process become one of the greatest coaches in the history of San Diego County basketball. She would have been a great coach in any sport. She would have been a great coach in boys basketball.

"Her kids are always prepared. There have been some years where she has had tremendous talent and others when she hasn't, and yet her kids always seem to realize their potential. She's a great role model as for what a coach should do in terms of preparation and hard work, and doing it with class and dignity."

Over the years, Trousdale's Poway team has routinely been on a collision course with Rancho Bernardo in the chase for the Palomar League title.

"The unusual aspect of my relationship with Peggy is that our teams have always been the biggest of rivals," Trousdale said. "But away from the court, the two of us have always been the greatest of friends.

"If she decides this is the time to step away, it's going to be a very big loss, indeed. It would take so much away from the game. She is one of the greatest coaches the San Diego Section has ever seen. There isn't a coach around that is going to outwork her or have their teams better prepared."

In Brose's 15 years at Rancho Bernardo, the Broncos have gone 308-105, winning three section and four Palomar League titles. Brose, who two years ago became the school's athletic director, recently was selected to receive a Model Coach award by the California Interscholastic Federation.

"If you're going to be successful in this program or any other program, you have to be willing to give," Brose said. "I really hate using that phrase that there is no 'I' in team because it sounds so corny, but you have to learn to work together to achieve a common goal. That's just the way it is in life.

"A lot of times, kids have gotten everything they've ever wanted from mom and dad. After that, how are you going to handle adversity? How are going to handle an adult telling you that what you've done isn't good enough? In our gym, there are 24 doors. If you're not willing to work together for the team, pick the one you want to go out of."

Brose, who will retain her athletic director's position regardless of whether she continues to coach, estimates that between 10-15 of her former players have gone on to become coaches.

"I've been lucky to have been associated with some very phenomenal kids," she said. "I might have taught them the skills of basketball and maybe some other things that have helped them become successful in life, but they've also taught me.

"Sure, there are days when I get tired, days when you just want to say forget it. My day usually starts around 4 a.m., and I'm never in bed before 10 o'clock. But you make sacrifices. I've been asked if I would ever change anything, but I wouldn't change a thing. It's been a great life. I just want to be able to say that I did things the right way."